Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), born Cai Yiling (蔡依翎) and formerly known as Cai Yiling (蔡宜凌), was born on September 15, 1980. Her ancestral home is Tong'an District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province. She was born in Xinzhuang City, Taipei County, Taiwan (now Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City). She is the second child in her family and has an older sister, Cai Minwen (蔡旻纹). Her father, Cai Zhuchen (蔡柱陈), formerly worked as an accountant, and her mother, Huang Chunmei (黄春美), is low-profile and volunteered at Taipei Hospital for ten years.

Jolin’s education includes graduating from Jingmei Girls' High School and being admitted to the English Department of Fu Jen Catholic University through direct recommendation; one of her classmates was singer Janine Chang Wen-ting (詹雯婷). In high school she formed a band called “Twister,” but due to the limited abilities of other members their performances were poor. In April 1998, while still at Jingmei Girls' High School, Jolin entered MTV’s “Newcomer Battle” music competition on the recommendation of her school and classmates. She emerged as the champion from some 20,000 contestants, frequently performing songs by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in the competition and winning with “The Greatest Love of All.” Afterwards she entered Fu Jen Catholic University’s Department of Foreign Languages with excellent grades.

In 1999 Jolin was discovered by David Wu and Zuo Ke-hui of Universal Music and signed as a recording artist. Her first EP single, “Be Neighbors with the World” (和世界做邻居), was released in July of that year and sold over 20,000 copies. In September she released her first Mandarin album, Jolin 1019, which included several signature tracks; its first-week sales exceeded 60,000 copies and total sales reached around 400,000. She received multiple awards, including the Best Newcomer Gold Award at the 7th Singapore Golden Melody Awards and Channel V’s “Most Popular Newcomer in Asia.”

In 2000 Jolin won the Most Popular Female Newcomer award at the Global Chinese Music Chart in Beijing, and released her second album, Don't Stop, in Taiwan, which sold 500,000 copies. In December she released her third album, Show Your Love. The following year she sang the Chinese version of the theme song for Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire and released her fourth album, Lucky Number. In 2001 she starred in the TV series Hi — Office Girls and released her fifth album, See My 72 Changes (看我72变), but her career was subsequently paused due to a contract dispute with her management company.

In 2002 Jolin signed with Sony Music and published a photobook titled Princess with a Mask · The Spirit of a Knight (假面公主·骑士精神), wrote the song “Knight Spirit” (骑士精神), and began to show her songwriting ability. That year she released her sixth album, See My 72 Changes, continuing to win Best Female Artist and Best Album awards. In 2003 she released the album Castle (城堡), which featured diverse styles and won music awards; she also starred in television dramas twice. In 2004 she released the Castle album, achieved breakthrough sales and multiple music awards, and launched the “J1” concert tour.

In 2005 Jolin delivered an outstanding performance at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, becoming the only Taiwanese singer to appear on the gala that year. From that point she gradually transformed her artistic image, shifting from a sexy route to more diverse development. In 2006 she joined EMI Records and released the album Dancing Diva (舞娘), which sold over two million copies across Asia and became the Mandarin-language sales champion. In 2007 she performed with David Tao at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, had broad influence, and released several concert documentaries.

In 2008 Jolin signed with Warner Music and released an English-language album, Love Exercises (爱的练习语), while also participating in Olympic events and gaining international attention. Since then she has continued to develop in music, concerts, and film and television, winning multiple Golden Melody Awards, MTV awards, and honors from CCTV. From 2010 onward she increased her involvement in songwriting and independent production, expanding into social philanthropy and demonstrating multifaceted development.

To date, Jolin Tsai continues to innovate in music, dance, and fashion, has received numerous domestic and international awards, and actively participates in public welfare, becoming an important figure in the Mandarin pop music scene.